|
|
|
Life in danger
EOHR calls for inquiry into detainee hunger strike
31/5/ 2005
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) is deeply concerned by the hunger strike instigated by four detainees in Wady Natroun 1 prison in response to mistreatment and failure to be given appropriate medical treatment.
EOHR has received a complaint from the family of detainee Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Fattah Mohamed Nasr informing it that Nasr, Tareq Abdel Aal Ahmed, Khaled Abdel Badie al Sayyed and Mohamed Abdallah Ahmed started a hunger strike on 25th May 2005 in Wady al Natroun 1 prison in protest at their bullying at the hands of detainees with whom they share their cell who prevent them from sleeping and pick fights with them. During one of these fights Nasr's arm was broken. The four men had previously requested that the prison administration move them to another cell, but this request was refused and the prison administration neither protected them nor provided medical care to Nasr, who suffers from stomach cancer and a duodenal ulcer.
His situation has recently become critical as he has started vomiting blood. The men have therefore begun a hunger strike which will continue until Nasr receives medical attention, and is moved to a different cell and their treatment improves.
EOHR previously issued a report, Prisoners without medical care which describes the bad living and health conditions inside prisons. The report made the following recommendations:
1. Law 396 [1956] on prison organisation and its associated implementing statutes must be amended to bring them in line with the Egyptian Constitution, international human rights instruments and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, in order to ensure that prisoners are not subject to torture or mistreatment and that they enjoy their right to education, health care, suitable food, exercise, visits and communication with the outside world. This is in line with modern penal philosophy which emphasises the rehabilitation of prisoners and their reintegration into society.
2. Formation of an independent national committee composed of human rights groups and the National Council for Human Rights responsible for leading an inquiry into the reasons for the deterioration of prison conditions in Egypt and the grave violations which occur in them. The results of this inquiry and the methods used to attain them must be made public, and the committee must be given the powers necessary to gain the information it needs and meet with the individuals whose testimonies it wishes to hear.
3. The Ministry of Justice, rather than the Interior Ministry, must be made responsible for supervision of prisons, and the following points must be taken into account:
- A system of judicial supervision must be put in place with responsibility not only for supervision of the implementation of criminal sentences but also for investigating complaints and appeals from prisoners pertaining to measures taken against them.
- The procedures described in the Criminal Procedures Code which prohibit any member of the public authorities other than prison administration employees from making contact with prisoners, detainees or those on remand must be given effect.
- The penalty for prison wardens who infringe the Criminal Procedures Code provision concerned with the ban on members of the public authorities from making contact with prisoners, detainees or those on remand must be strengthened. The Criminal Procedures Code should state that wardens who infringe this provision are accomplices to the crime and responsible for its consequences - usually the torture of the prisoner. Wardens should be liable whether the crime occurs inside the prison or elsewhere.
- EOHR calls for the immediate release of all detainees imprisoned through repeated administrative orders issued by the Interior Ministry. It in particular calls for the release of prisoners whose state of health necessitates their release, as required under international human rights instruments. Full medical care must be provided in Egyptian prisons and other places of detention through the amendment of the bureaucratic procedures surrounding the transfer of ill prisoners to hospital under articles 34 - 37 of Law 396 [1956]. The prisoner's life should be the main concern rather than papers and stamps.
EOHR urgently requests that attorney general Maher Abdel Wahed exercise his powers under article 42 of the Criminal Procedures Code and appoint a member of the public prosecution office to investigate conditions inside Wady al Natroun 1 prison, uncover the problems which led to the hunger strike and work towards their resolution.
|
|
Copyright © 2002 EOHR. All rights reserved. 